Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 12/03/97

ELABORATION

William Samuel Blackshare was born on November 21, 1849, in McNairy County, Tennessee. In the fall of 1858, Blackshare, accompanied his father, James, and stepmother, Ruth E. Evans, in their move to Boydsville, then a part of Greene County, Arkansas. Clay County was organized as Clayton County in 1873 from parts of Greene and Randolph Counties; the name was changed to Clay County by the General Assembly on December 6, 1875. The county seat was originally located at Corning, but an 1874 election moved the seat to Boydsville, which was situated in the center of the new county. Strong resistance to the move resulted in another election in 1877, though Boydsville was again declared the winner. The first term of the county court in Boydsville was held on October 1, 1877. Because of difficulties of traversing the Black and Cache River bottoms to reach Boydsville, the people of Corning persisted and in 1881 a western judicial district was approved by the state legislature. After the completion of the St. Louis & Texas Railroad (later the St. Louis & Southwestern, also known as the “Cotton Belt”) through the county, the eastern district seat was moved to Piggott, a new railroad town.

In 1871, W. S. Blackshare engaged in a mercantile business with his father at Big Creek. This business was later moved to Boydsville, and Blackshare had several different partners through 1888 when he sold his stock to A. L. Blackshare. In 1878, Governor Augustus Garland appointed W. S. Blackshare to the office of sheriff for the county. He also served as county treasurer for two years and was deputy sheriff for four years.

Blackshare was also involved with farming and owned about 200 acres at his homeplace with another 1500 acres in the country. At the time of the building of the nominated property, he was married to Mary Aneliza Ellis. Their fourthborn was Edgar M. Blackshare who married Alice Dortch. After W. S. Blackshare died in 1898, Edgar and Alice were the next generation to own and reside in the house. They had two surviving sons, Wayne S. Blackshare and Sammy Blackshare. Wayne Blackshare was born June 3, 1908, in the house; he married Ruth Bookout of Rector on April 20, 1934. They resided in the house until 1991, when, for health reasons, they sold the property to J. C. and Oleta Clayton, the current owners.

The W. S. Blackshare House is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places under Criterion B and C for its association with W. S. Blackshare, early Clay County sheriff and businessman, and as the best surviving example of I-house construction in the Boydsville region of Clay County. The property is ineligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places at this time due to the application of artificial siding that conceals the original exterior details.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas. Chicago, Nashville & St. Louis: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889.

Blackshare, Perry L . Blacksheariana. 1954.

Information and materials submitted by Leland Blackshare and Dr. Bryan Blackshare, June 3, 1997.

Interview with Ruth Blackshare by Leland Blackshare, May, 1997.